


now i'm walking in, walking into fire

by sergeantrogers



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bucky Barnes Pines, Flashbacks, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Punk Bucky Barnes, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 08:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8971237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sergeantrogers/pseuds/sergeantrogers
Summary: ‘’So, this is the people you went to high school with,’’ Clint said as he looked over the gym. ‘’It’s hard to imagine an emo version of Bucky talking with them,’’ he added as Nat hid an amused smile. 
‘’He didn’t do much talking. He mostly just glared at people and growled,’’ Nat told Clint. 
‘’I didn’t,’’ Bucky said, trying to save his appearance, but Nat and Clint’s laugh proved he wasn’t really convincing.  
‘’Oh right, of course! How could I forget the times you crushed about Rogers and acted like a teenage girl?’’ Nat reminded him with that devil’s smile of hers. Bucky both hated and loved that smile.   
‘’Alright, I’m gonna go get punch,’’ Bucky said, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks, though he knew he failed when he heard Clint laugh harder.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my fic for the StuckyThorki Secret Santa Event. Apparently, I can't write stuff if I'm not threatened by a deadline. Oups, I guess?  
> Anyway, this is for Downwarddnaspiral on Tumblr. I hope you'll like it!
> 
> Please remember I didn't have a beta, so there might be mistakes left over. I'm sorry about that! If I notice some, I will correct them.
> 
> Name of the fic comes from the song Fire by Ingrid Michaelson. Same for the chapter title!

‘’Nat, I don’t want to go,’’ Bucky whined the same way a five years old would, even though he was in his late twenties. ‘’I don’t even talk to most of them anymore!’’

It’s not that high school had been a bad experience for Bucky, not at all; it’s just that high school was, well, high school. And when that part of his life had been over, Bucky had been pretty excited to move on to the next part and forget about it. He really didn’t need a reunion and be reminded of all the people he saw every day, back then, and honestly, he just wanted to completely forget about high school. He had had far better experiences in his life, memories that he would cherish forever, but high school wasn’t part of that.  
Sure, he had met amazing people there – Nat, for example, but there were people he certainly did not want to see again. 

‘’James, come on, aren’t you a little curious to see where they are in their lives now? Don’t you wanna see how some people have changed since then?’’ Nat asked with a smirk he didn’t like, as she put on some simple earrings. 

‘’Not really, no,’’ he answered as he turned on the bed to look at her. She was wearing a casual black dress, her red hair set loose on her shoulders. She always had her life under control and always knew what she was doing and then here he was, the great Bucky Barnes, still wearing sweatpants, an old t-shirt from college and he hadn’t even shaved yet.

How Nat managed to keep a mess like him in her life, Bucky didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to ask her. 

‘’Well, I don’t care. You’re coming and that’s the end of the story,’’ she declared as she finished applying her mascara and eyeliner, and she turned to look at him, her hands on her waist. 

‘’But Nat –‘’

‘’Don’t give me that shit, Barnes. Get ready, we’re leaving in ten minutes to get Clint.’’

Whining and making sure Nat knew how unhappy he was about this whole thing, Bucky got up and dressed up.

You don’t disobey a woman like Natasha Romanoff.

-

When Bucky walked in the gym of his old high school, he wished more than anything he didn’t come. 

God, he didn’t miss any of this high school crap. He had just walked in, and already he had to put on a fake smile, and for the next few hours, he’d have to pretend, all over again, that he liked these people. 

‘’So, this is the people you went to high school with,’’ Clint said as he looked over the gym. ‘’It’s hard to imagine an emo version of Bucky talking with them,’’ he added as Nat hid an amused smile. 

‘’He didn’t do much talking. He mostly just glared at people and growled,’’ Nat told Clint. 

‘’I didn’t,’’ Bucky said, trying to save his appearance, but Nat and Clint’s laugh proved he wasn’t really convincing. 

‘’Oh right, of course! How could I forget the times you crushed about Rogers and acted like a teenage girl?’’ Nat reminded him with that devil’s smile of hers. Bucky both hated and loved that smile. 

‘’Alright, I’m gonna go get punch,’’ Bucky said, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks, though he knew he failed when he heard Clint laugh harder. 

As he picked up a cup and filled it with punch, Bucky thought about that Rogers kid he had a crush on, back then. He had never acted on it, never even talked to the guy more than like twice, but he had been pretty much head over heels for him. 

As Bucky remembered him, Steve Rogers was a skinny guy; he wasn’t taller than 5’4 and couldn’t have weighted more than a hundred pounds. He wasn’t the type of guy who was considered attractive, but Bucky had seen something in him that was so beautiful. Plus, Rogers had that stupid jaw, and that stupid blond golden hair and those stupid blue eyes like the sky in the summer -

But that wasn’t what had mattered to Bucky. It was how good Rogers undeniably was, how kind and generous he was with everyone. He was always ready to defend others and say out loud what people like Bucky thought in silence. 

He was so deep in his thoughts about Rogers that Bucky didn’t even notice when someone came up next to him.

‘’Well, if that’s not Bucky Barnes, now!’’ A loud voice exclaimed. A voice that sounded a lot like…

‘’Tony Stark, what a pleasure,’’ Bucky deadpanned, his sarcasm heavy in his voice.

‘’As grumpy as I remember you, Barnes,’’ Stark said, smiling. ‘’So tell me, now that you left your long greasy hair phase behind you, what do you do?’’

‘’I was in the army for a while, now I’m a little in between,’’ Bucky answered shortly, as he didn’t really want to give Stark details about his life. 

‘’How fascinating, now let me tell you about what I’m doing,’’ Stark said, and Bucky knew it was over. Stark wouldn’t stop speaking for a good ten minutes, so Bucky pretended to listen and he nodded at the right times, but he was actually looking at everyone and trying to remember who’s who. 

So far, he had recognized a few people; over there was Thor, still huge as ever, and there was a short brunette woman with him that Bucky didn’t know. Not far from there were Bruce Banner and Scott Lang; Bucky wondered if Bruce still had anger issues and if Scott still liked stealing. There were a few others Bucky knew, like Sharon Carter, James Rhodes, Brock Rumlow and Loki. 

As Stark was talking about his girlfriend, Pepper something, Bucky noticed someone he definitely did not know. 

The guy was stuff of magazines and dreams; tall, muscles, blond hair and a t-shirt too tight for him. Honestly, Bucky wanted a close look at that guy, because damn, even from afar, the dude was smoking hot. 

‘’Who’s that?’’ Bucky asked, interrupting Stark mid-sentence.

‘’I’m sorry, what?’’ Stark said, confused and offended.

‘’That guy over there, tall and muscles, his t-shirt is too small for him, you can’t miss him – who’s he?’’

Stark shot him a side glance, a quite incredulous look in his face. ‘’You mean you don’t know who that is?’’

‘’Well, Stark, if I knew who it was, I wouldn’t be asking you,’’ Bucky replied, bitter. Dammit, he just wanted an answer, okay? 

‘’That’s Steve Rogers, Barnes.’’

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always welcome! I don't know when the other chapters will come, as I haven't written them yet, but since I have a whole month with no school (yay!), I'm probably gonna have a lot of time to do just that.


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